


A Better Man

by Diary



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Awkwardness, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, F/M, Family, Friendship/Love, Late Night Conversations, Morally Ambiguous Character, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Past Tense, Romance, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 02:25:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11004033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: AU. A look at if Tywin had been a better Father. WIP.





	A Better Man

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Game of Thrones.

In the empty crown room, Jaime shuddered when his father touched his shoulder.

“You did the right thing. Someone had to stop Aerys.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “Was saving the Queen from her husband’s cruelty truly worth this?”

“Yes,” his father answered. “There will be no rebellion, now. Queen Rhaella might be a weak woman, but she’s a sensible and just Queen. She will deal with Rhaegar’s inappropriate fixation on that Stark girl, and she will rule the seven kingdoms as they should be.”

“And me? Our family? Already, they’re calling me ‘kingslayer’.”

“Hmm.” His father sat down. “You will tell everyone how true a knight you are. You will tell everyone how, while lesser men would have detached themselves from the situation, you had the strength and courage to do what you knew to be right.”

“Of course, it’s never been a secret I was pleased to be able to give Casterly Rock to your brother, but after this, though, she’s no doubt thankful, Queen Rhaella can’t afford to have a man who did as you did in her Queensgard. You will be reinstated as my heir, and I will find Tyrion a rich woman with plenty of lands. And with how strong-willed and beautiful your sister is, I have no doubt she’ll review her marriage prospects even more carefully to ensure she takes no husband who is unworthy of a Lannister bride. No man who can’t accept you will be accepted by her.”

“I don’t want Casterly Rock,” he protested. “And if Queen Rhaella truly bares me no ill-will, she should be happy to have a cloak who has proven his absolute loyalty to her.”

His father sighed. “Since Tyrion isn’t here to explain things to you, I shall try: Thanks to Aerys, there are always going to be whispers of the possibility of infidelity on her part. If anyone ever becomes a serious threat to her rule or her children’s, these whispers will be brought to the forefront. The fact she is currently with child and you joined the kingsguard at such a young age-”

“What? But that’s ridiculous. I didn’t even want to be part of the kingsguard, but when Aerys selected me, I obeyed. And I wasn’t thinking of her as a Queen or even a woman when I did it, Father. A brutal man was hurting an innocent, and I stepped in.”

“I believe you,” his father replied. “But I believe you because I know you. You’ve grown up in my house, under my care. You’ve shared parts of yourself with your brother, sister, and myself that you haven’t and wouldn’t with anyone else. Whenever great lords and ladies and knights do things of import, there are thousands, if not millions of people, who all have their own ideas on why they did it.”

Before he could continue his protestations, the doors swung open, and he breathed a sigh of relief when his younger brother marched in.

“Tyrion.”

He sank to the floor and immediately found himself embraced by his brother’s arms.

“Are you okay, Jaime? Did he hurt you?”

“No.” He pulled back. “I was much too fast.”

“Good.”

Their father cleared his throat, and Jaime looked up to see him glaring down at Tyrion. “I made it very clear you were to stay at Casterly Rock.”

“Yes,” Tyrion agreed, “you did. I’m sorry, Father, but my place is with my big brother.”

A warm feeling spread throughout his body.

“It wasn’t safe for you to travel,” their father insisted. “What if someone had attacked you?”

“I’d have made them feel stupid with my great brains.”

Jaime’s laughter stopped at his father’s dark look.

“And they would have made your death even more torturous for it. If you’re going to use those great brains to further the Lannister name, it would greatly help if you’d realise that-”

“I had servants,” Tyrion interrupted. “And besides, if you aren’t enough to scare them, who’d dare anger my big brother who was able to so easily take down an unjust king?”

He couldn’t help but flinch, and of course, Tyrion saw it.

Reaching over, Tyrion put a hand under his chin. “Look me in the eyes.”

When Jaime unwillingly complied, Tyrion’s words were careful and firm. “You did the right thing. It might not feel like that right now, but on my honour as a Lannister, I’m telling you that you did. Hopefully, one day, when you see Viserys thrive, and if the seven grant it, the Queen’s child come into this world and know only peace and love from her mother, you will believe it. Do you understand, sweet brother? You did the right thing.”

Nodding, he reached up to wipe his eyes. “Thank you.” Taking a deep breath, he continues, “Father thinks I’ll have to remove my white cloak.”

“He’s probably right,” Tyrion gently responded. “But fear not. There will be plenty of squires to train at the Rock and tourneys to win. And Father will find me a clever bride with a suitable estate.”

“I will find you a rich bride in a place with plenty of respectable maesters you may summon to talk to anytime you wish,” their father said with a trace of irritation in his voice.

“If she’s not clever, there’s a chance any children we have will take after her in simpleness than in my genius.”

“Nonsense. There have been sickly Lannisters, ugly Lannisters, and stupidly impulsive Lannisters, but it is a very rare thing for a Lannister to be born without their own brand of sharp intelligence. Now, come along both of you. I’m tired. Your sister isn’t going to show up, is she?”

Tyrion made a sad, half-disgusted sound. “Of course not.”

Glancing over at Jaime, he quickly clarified, “She still loves you as much as ever and still hates me the same amount.”

Jaime managed a slight smile and accepted his brother’s hand.

When they were young, Jaime and Cersei were almost inseparable, but when their mother died giving birth to their dwarf brother, his and their father’s acceptance of Tyrion had angered her in such a way he’d eventually given up on her looking past it to see the little brother who loved her unconditionally.

0

11 Years Later…

As the servants were finishing packing, Jaime said, “I’ve heard Brienne of Tarth is one of the ugliest girls in the seven kingdoms. Doesn’t Tyrion deserve a pretty bride?”

“I don’t particularly care, so long as she’s nicely intelligent,” Tyrion answered. “Her father is a bright man when he’s not courting unsuitable women.”

Giving Tyrion a proud look, their father said, “Your brother deserves a place equal to Casterly Rock. Neither prettiness or cleverness matters when such a bountiful island is attached. In addition, there will are enough young ladies at Tarth you might be able to find yourself a suitable bride, as well.”

Looking down at himself, Tyrion muttered, “You talk as if this Lady Brienne will already accept me.”

“None of that,” their father sharply ordered. “What the gods didn’t see fit to give you in height and physical strength, they repaid with unparalleled brilliance. A lion need not be large to be fearsome. Now, do you both have your cloaks and gloves in case you need them?”

“Yes, Father,” they answered.

….

Tarth was beautiful, Jaime had to admit.

The same, however, couldn’t be said for its heir.

“My lords,” the shy, stuttering giantess in a violently pink dress said as she bowed rather curtsied. A foot or more taller than Jaime, she had a heavy face, straw-like, almost white hair, and ashen skin.

When she briefly made eye contact, though, he felt his chest tighten.

The seven had decided to make her claim to Tarth undeniably explicit by making her eyes the exact shade as the sapphire isle waters. Even real sapphires likely weren’t that pure a shade, he found himself thinking.

He felt Tyrion jab him in the ribs.

Trying not to wince, he quickly inclined his head. “Lady Brienne.”

She didn’t look particularly impressed, and knowing his father absolutely wouldn’t tolerate it, he managed not to snap at her.

After all, he reasoned, it wasn’t his fault her eyes were so distracting.

Ever the charmer, Tyrion reached over to take her hand. “It’s good to meet you, Lady Brienne. I’ve heard you’re one of the best sword fighters on your island. I remember when my dear sister was younger, our lord father allowed her to train alongside Jaime and the squires. Tell me, did you ever…”

Jaime didn’t hear the rest. He wondered where and when Tyrion had heard such a thing and if this strong looking girl truly was a good fighter.

Cersei had been, but she hadn’t been willing to adopt the diet truly necessary to become a great one.

Thinking of her caused a pang.

Eight years ago, she had run off with Prince Oberyn of Dorne and married him. They said she was to be Queen someday, but this wasn’t enough to get their Father to forgive her, and she showed no desire to try to mend things. Every nameday, she sent Jaime some little gift and a note wishing him well but never wrote to their father or brother, and the few times Tyrion tried to send her a gift, it was never accepted.

“Wouldn’t you, Jaime?”

Startled, he found Tyrion looking at him in amused concern, their father scowling, and Lord Tarth and Lady Brienne looking uncertain.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “What is it?”

Tyrion shook his head. “Forgive my brother, Lady Brienne. His head is elsewhere today.”

“He’s a bit disoriented from our travels,” their father added with a subtle glare. “The fresh air would do him good. Your brother was just saying how happy you’d be to chaperone him and Lady Brienne as she showed him around her father’s lovely estate.”

Pasting on what he knew to be a winning smile, he said, “Of course.”

Curse her, she looked even less than impressed.

…

Jaime half-listened to Tyrion and Lady Brienne chattering about songs.

In the streaming sunlight, he noticed she had a heavy helping of freckles and thought it a shame his brother would look at them with indifference. Jaime himself had always liked to come across people with them and secretly hoped his own intended would have them.

At least, she seems clever enough, if overly-romantic, he told himself. And if he thought about it, a dwarf and a giantess made an odd amount of certain sense.

Suddenly, a foreign beauty appeared out of nowhere, and while Lady Brienne treated this as a normal occurrence, Tyrion stumbled and would have fallen if not for Jaime reflexively leaning down to steady him.

“Oh, um, forgive me, my lords,” Lady Brienne nervously said. “This is Shae, one of my handmaidens. Shae, these are the Lannister brothers, Ser Jaime and Lord Tyrion.”

Shae looked at them with critical eyes. “That one,” she said with a nod towards Jaime, “has a better chance of giving you blue-eyed children, my lady.”

“Shae,” Lady Brienne scolded with an apologetic look towards them, “we’ve talked about this. I must insist you not say whatever comes to mind to my father’s guests. My lords, please, forgive her. She’s not from the seven kingdoms.”

“Oh, it’s quite alright, Lady Brienne,” Tyrion assured her with a warm smile. Turning it on Shae, he continued, “I suppose you might be right, my lady. It’s important to you that your mistress’s children have blue eyes?”

She gave a careless shrug. “Not particularly. Other lords have been unkind to her. If you are, I will cut off your face.”

Jaime was torn between angry indignation at her daring to threaten his brother and something he couldn’t quite define when Lady Brienne rapidly became the same shade as an apple and snapped, “I’ve been knocking unworthy boys into the dirt all my life! I’m sure, if I needed to, I could handle a-”

She paused, and if possible, her skin became an even more blotchly red, and she hurriedly stuttered, “Shae meant no harm, and I meant no offence.”

“It’s okay,” Tyrion started to sooth, but Jaime cut him off.

“Whatever you almost called my brother, you didn’t have the right, not a great beast of a woman like you.”

“Jaime!”

Instead of looking hurt or offended, Lady Brienne simply quirked an eyebrow at him. “I wasn’t about to call him anything. But the fact you thought I was- you were already thinking it.”

“I was already thinking about the things I’ve heard him called in the past, yes,” he retorted. “Just like your handmaiden doesn’t appreciate unkindness towards you, my lady, I don’t appreciate it towards him, and neither does our father.”

Shae looked at him with hard eyes, but Lady Brienne suddenly looked unsure.

“Of course,” she mumbled. “I truly was only going to say, ‘I could handle another one.’ Not that he was unworthy, just that, if he were.”

“Right,” Tyrion cheerfully said. “Jaime, let’s escort Lady Brienne and her fair handmaiden back to Lord Selwyn.”

“You shouldn’t call me fair and pretend the way she looks doesn’t matter to you,” Shae said.

Seeing a flash of hurt on Lady Brienne’s face and desperately wanting to go to his chamber and rest, Jaime said, “He’s not pretending, he really doesn’t care. Your mistress has truly astonishing eyes, and I’ve never understood why so many people think freckles unsightly. There, Lady Brienne has been sincerely complimented. If we could please go?”

…

After sleeping, Jaime felt significantly more like himself.

This lasted until Tyrion asked, “You don’t like Lady Brienne?”

Sighing, he answered, “I haven’t formed much of an opinion of her. She’d look much better in blue, though, don’t you think? To match her eyes?”

“As you said, I don’t particularly care how she looks. She’s very interesting.”

“Is she really good with a sword? Where and when did you hear this?”

“If all goes according to plan, she’s going to be my bride. Of course, I’ve found out all I could about her. And yes, from what I heard, she’s something of a prodigy. In the morning, let’s sneak down to the practising grounds. I’m told, even now, she continues her training.”

“Okay,” Jaime agreed. “She didn’t seem that interesting to me, however. Just another dewy-eyed, story-obsessed maiden. Only, in her case, she’ll never have anything like in the songs she so craves.”

“Of course, she will,” Tyrion said. “I may not be particularly handsome or able to boast all the bravery and strength you are, and she may not be a beauty, but I will treat her kindly, and we will have delightfully clever children. Songs will be written about her strength and virtue and my intellectual prowess, brother.”

“Intellectual prowess? You know, if you weren’t Father’s pride and joy, he’d tell you that a clever man doesn’t feel the need to constantly tell others how clever he is.”

“Father takes as much pride and joy in you as he does me,” Tyrion softly told him. “But yes, I suppose you’re right.”

…

In the morning, they took a basket and hid underneath the stands.

Or rather, they sat under the stands, and sitting above, Shae peered down, saw it was them, and hissed, “Give me an apple, and don’t even think of reaching up to touch.”

Though Jaime had been careful not to look up her skirt, he was tempted to comment he didn’t see anything worth touching, but Tyrion was already digging out an apple and holding it up with an offer of, “My lady.”

She gave them half-amused, half-scowling look and went back to watching the knights and squires train.

As they ate and drank, Tyrion occasionally gave a respectful tug on the bottom of Shae’s skirt and held up an offering of food.

The knights were deserving of their title, although, not as good as Jaime himself, and he could see most of the squires had potential.

Then, a helmet-clad person he recognised by the height as Lady Brienne appeared.

All but one squire who truly had no business being a squire looked unhappy at her arrival, but no one said anything.

“Quiet,” Shae whispered down. “My lady will wear my favour and fight for me.”

Jaime really hoped, for his brother’s sake, Lady Brienne wasn’t completely mannish. She must have some femininity, he desperately thought.

After the squire had escorted Lady Brienne over and she’d received Shae’s favour, she began fighting, and suddenly, Jaime found himself more alive than he had in a long time. If not for being so entranced, he would have wanted to run in the sunlight, climb trees, and find his own person to fight.

While somewhat graceless, she was strong, and her movements were sturdy. She fought with intelligence and observance, too, he noticed.

He just barely kept himself from standing when she won, and though, he’d never been one for cheering himself, he recognised the importance of people being cheered when worthy of it and found himself offended by the lack of cheers filling the yard. Above them, Shae quietly clapped, and he could see the squire blushing red while talking to Brienne, but everyone else seemed either indifferent or annoyed.

“Well fought,” Tyrion commented.

“‘Well fought’,” he repeated. “She’s one of the best I’ve seen since Ser Selmy-”

Tyrion gave him a look. “That was a sincere compliment, brother.”

They quieted when they heard Brienne approaching Shae.

“You were distracted today,” Shae said. “I won’t ask which lion it was. Your little one and his brother are sitting underneath.”

Tyrion reached up to pinch her ankle, and Brienne’s face suddenly appeared above them. “And you didn’t tell me this before?”

“Yours gave me apples and other good food.”

“You make it sound as if you don’t get enough,” Brienne said in what Jaime could have sworn was a hurt voice. “You know you’re always welcome to have as much as-”

“Oh course, I have plenty,” was the dismissive reply. “But how often does one get to say that a lion fed them?”

Laughing, Tyrion grabbed Jaime’s hand, led him out, and bowed. “Lady Brienne. I’d say you fought well, but my brother doesn’t think such praise is high enough. You’ll have to forgive me. I think most people fight well, and beyond that, I have little appreciation for the finer aspects of sword fighting.”

“Perhaps, this one should fight her, then,” Shae said. “My lady once declared she’d have no husband who couldn’t beat her in combat. Out of respect for her father, she’s giving you a chance.” The expression she gave Tyrion made it clear how she truly felt about this. “But if you’re truly worthy, let the gods show it. It doesn’t have to be your brother, even.”

“Shae!”

“Of course, it would be me,” Jaime interjected. “But on that note, it doesn’t have to be your lady, either. I’d fight any champion she chose.”

“Champions are well and good for others, but I champion myself,” Brienne said.

He felt a new respect for her settling within.

“There will be no matrimonial duels,” Tyrion declared. “Although, sweet brother, Lady Brienne, if the two of you wish to meet on the field, the only thing I ask is that neither do permanent harm to the other.”

“Yes,” Brienne agreed. “But for now, perhaps, we should find our fathers? Mine has the new amendments to the marriage contract written out.”

“As does ours,” Tyrion said. Reaching up, he took Brienne’s hand. “I hope it won’t be too tedious, my ladies.”

Scowling, Shae retorted, “I am no lady.”

Reaching over, Brienne tugged Shae along. “Shae, please. Lord Tyrion and Ser Jaime are not only guests, but the Lannisters have treated my family with kindness through hard times.”

Curious, Jaime looked down, but Tyrion shook his head and gave him a look promising to explain later.

…

Tyrion found Shae sitting in the gardens with a boy anyone not a dwarf would label as tiny.

“Lord Tyrion,” she said. The boy quickly bowed, and she continued, “This is Podrick Payne. Your father gave him to Lord Selwyn.”

Knowing the story, he smiled up at the boy, but Podrick simply blushed and looked straight ahead.

“Could I talk to you,” he asked Shae.

Nodding, she ordered Podrick, “Run along. Find some more seagull eggs.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

The boy didn’t stop to answer, and her only response was a careless shrug and the reply, “Little Pod has some talents most don’t see.”

“Is it the fact that I’m a dwarf,” he blurted out.

She looked straight into his eyes. “No. My lady is a virgin. You’re not. I was once a whore, little lion. Perhaps, that is something one never stops being. At any rate, I see what you are.”

Suddenly, she sunk to her knees in front of him, touched his cheek, and he found himself trying to keep control of his overstimulated body.

“If I didn’t care so much about Lady Brienne, I would have you right here. I can always tell when a man is going to be good. Just as I can always tell when they’re being unfaithful. The only reason you aren’t having me right here is either you’re rightfully afraid of what I might do or you’re simply a rare breed who can take ‘no’ at ‘no’. I can’t tell which when it comes to that.”

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and reopened them. Reaching up, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “Both, my lady. If there’s something I can do to prove it, tell me. But if I can’t, I’ll simply give you my word as a Lannister that, if she and I marry, I shall never stray from your mistress or mistreat her in bed.”

Her eyes pierced his for a long moment.

Then, making a small sound, she stood up. “Speaking is easy, but I still have much trouble reading and writing your language. You will begin teaching me, and when the time comes, I will read the final marriage contract.”

He bowed. “Whether you accept the label or not, you are truly a lady, Shae.”

She gave him a half-smile and offered her hand.

…

I hope for my brother’s sake, there are plenty of maesters on this island, Jaime thought.

He and Brienne had been walking for close to ten minutes, and she’d yet to say a word.

‘Get to know your brother’s bride-to-be,’ his father had commanded.

What else was there to know, he wondered. She’s a good fighter, a romantic, and truly needs to desist in wearing pinks and pastels.

“I apologise for Shae.”

He almost stumbled.

“She had a hard life before she ended up here, and her true desire is to protect my father and I.”

“That’s admirable, I suppose.”

She stopped, and he found himself unable to look away from strong, unrelenting eyes.

Once, he almost drowned, and now, he feels something akin to what he felt then.

“If you wish to fight after I’m done, I will gladly do so, but you will listen: Your brother has no better choice than me. There are prettier women, better trained in the feminine arts than I, who could be compelled to accept him, but none of them have an entire island they’re sole heir to. Furthermore, I doubt any of them could understand him as I can. I have no better choice than him. There is no one as rich and powerful as your family, and a dwarf is likely the one person who might have some inkling of what it’s like to be an ugly beast of a woman.”

Scoffing, he asked, “And why are you telling me this? So that I’ll agree to let your foreign girl stay after you wed him? So I’ll pretend you have anything going for you besides this water-surrounded land we’re on?”

“My brother has a whole family who loves and supports him. You have a lowborn servant girl who, I’d wager, once spread her legs for a tiny bit of bread. Even your own father despairs of you. And no, no one else can offer him an island, but there are plenty of women with larger dowries and more powerful names, Maid of Tarth.”

“No,” she calmly answered. “I will have it in the marriage contract that both Shae and Pod will always have a place in my house and at my table. I’d rather you not pretend anything. This is my way of showing I won’t.”

Taken aback, he tried to wrap his head around her words.

“Pod?”

“One of our squires. Podrick Payne. A knight drunkenly stole food from an orphanage. Pod tried to stop him, but there wasn’t much he could do. He was to be hanged with the lord, but your father decided to send him here.”

Remembering the blushing lad with absolutely no swordsmanship, Jaime imagined he now had a name for him.

“You don’t like me very much, do you, my lady?”

“I don’t know you,” she answered. “From what I’ve seen so far, I’m not impressed. You’ve been nothing but rude and dismissive. That speech you just gave- I’d heard you were good at ferreting out the weaknesses of others and exploiting them. You truly are. Nothing in my speech was an insult towards your brother. Everything in yours was an attack on me, my father and home, and Shae.”

“Nothing about ‘kingslayer’?”

Over the years, he had repeatedly told himself he would not go there. Everyone knew why he did what he did, but as his father warned, not everyone believed what they knew. Some of those who knew and believed still condemned him for the action he took.

Usually, he was fine with not knowing, but in that one moment, with this honest girl bluntly but not, as she correctly declared, cruelly speaking truths, he found the question slipping out.

“I’m truly glad you’re a Lannister.”

The words were so nonsensical, he wondered if he misheard something.

She continued, “I’d be dead. Anyone else would be, too. Kings do have the right to do things that others don’t, but rape isn’t one of them. I’ve never killed anyone, and the thought of doing so makes me sick. Just another weakness on my part. But by the seven and the old gods, I swear I’d try before I’d let a man, king or no, do such a thing.”

Tyrion and Father will be happy to know I truly do like his bride-to-be, was his first coherent thought.

His second thought was he’d probably have much more fun if he never let her know he liked her.

“Physically, you’re strong enough,” he said. “You have a certain amount of cunning, too. But unless you get over your soft heart, you’ll never win in a true fight. Why don’t we have a friendly duel, my lady? See if you can truly overtake me.”

She looked tempted.


End file.
